I wanted to let everyone know that I will likely not be posting as much here for the next 17 days. My exams for summer term start on the 15th and will finish on the 20th. I have five exams. I really need to study.
I’ve had to read about 300 pages (more or less) a week this term. There are 13+ weeks in the term. That’s about 3900 pages read. 3900 pages of some of the densest, least exciting words ever put in linguistic order on a page. The kind of reading that makes Leviticus look like a romance novel. It’s been a chore even when some of the cases have been interesting.
But I love it. I love it because I know that the work I am doing know will pay off in the future. When I get the most frustrated, like when I just read three pages and have to read them again because they made absolutely no sense on the first read, I think about why am I doing this: to improve myself, my business, and my clients.
In other words, I keep thinking long-term to get me through the tough work of the now. Then the work I’m doing now becomes something I can love doing.
You can do the same. Sure, for most creative people it is no fun to do the work of creating or working a marketing plan and running a business. You want to make your art, your images, and not have to screw with the invoicing and bookkeeping and mailers and planning, etc. But it is in the doing of the tedious that you get the opportunities to do the art (and get paid for it).
So, if I can do it, so can you. While I’m slogging through making outlines of the law and flashcards and learning the details of the rules, you do some of the not so fun work that makes your business, in the long run, better. Research some clients. Plan some mailers and emailers. Catch up on your bookkeeping. Plan your marketing for next year. And remember to love the work, because it is in the doing that you get to do what you really love.